The Tradition Course renovation's is a first step to restoring Cypresswood's glory

SPRING, Texas - For the first time in several years, The Tradition Course at Cypresswood didn't host a Stage 1 qualifying tournament this fall for the PGA Tour.

The locally held qualifier - a grindfest for a chance to advance to Stage 2 - was still at Cypresswood this year. However it was an old standby, the Cypress Course, one of the other two courses at the venerable Houston-area daily fee facility.

It's not that the Tradition Course was unworthy. In fact, the Keith Foster-designed gem is perhaps in its best shape ever since it opened in 1997. It's just that Cypresswood officials couldn't guarantee that it would be ready in time when they closed it down earlier this summer for a much-needed renovation, which is just one of the improvements the facility's new owners have undertaken since taking over in February.

When it's all said and done, Cypresswood - one of the busiest public facilities in the state with 54 holes - will get close to $2 million in renovations and capital improvements over the next year or so. It started with new grasses on the greens, fairways and roughs on the complex's premium course and will include building additions and re-grassed greens on the other two courses - the Cypress and the Creek.

It should come as no surprise that the work started with new Bermuda cultivars on the par-72, 7,202-yard Tradition, considering the character of the new ownership, Foresight Golf of Boerne, Texas. One the company's partners is Ed Miller, an agronomist and former superintendent who worked for, among other high profile operations, the Pebble Beach Co. in the early 1990s. Miller knew right off that the first order of business needed to be to improve the conditioning on The Tradition.

When The Tradition was first built, Cypresswood used a cultivar called Baby Bermuda in the fairways and roughs and FloraDwarf on the greens. Neither fared well over the years; the Baby Bermuda, especially in the rough, didn't compete well with weeds or even common Bermuda and the FloraDwarf didn't thrive on the greens.

The course looked spotty in places and thin in others, so the new owners decided to close the course this summer and replace it with 419 Bermuda in the roughs and fairways and Champion Bermuda on the greens. Less than 90 days later, when the course reopened in October, the grass looked like it had been there several years, and it was thriving.

"It grew in well," said Miller, chief operations officer of Foresight Golf, which also owns The Bandit in New Braunfels, Buckhorn in Comfort and The Republic in San Antonio. "We're happy with where it is, but it's going to get a whole lot better."

Miller explained that at the time The Tradition was built, 419 was in short supply and Baby Bermuda was a somewhat experimental grass. It's not frequently used on golf courses anymore.

Long considered one of the top layouts in the Houston area, The Tradition has received other improvements as well.

Some much-needed nutrients, which included some $15,000 worth of calcium, were added to the soil profile.

"The soil was pretty deficient in calcium," said Cypresswood Director of Maintenance Ed McBeath. "That (adding calcium) is going to pay big dividends as how the water moves through the profile."

Foresight also practiced addition by subtraction by removing more a few hundred sprinkler heads to prevent watering areas that McBeath doesn't want watered. In addition, many of the heads that were left were replaced with partial circle sprinklers to prevent excess watering, and the amount of water the course has received has been monitored carefully since the renovation.

The new irrigation practices go hand-in-hand with an ongoing effort to clear out brush and unwanted plants that had overgrown from within the tree lines, destroying "vistas" and generally mucking up the golf experience. Watering in areas that shouldn't have been watered had caused much of that, said Miller and McBeath. Now, if you hit a wayward shot, you might be able to find your ball in many places where you couldn't before.

The Tradition also had its own clubhouse. No more. All operations are now being conducted out of the main clubhouse. The Tradition clubhouse is being renovated into a banquet hall for events held on that golf course.

The main clubhouse, however, will get a major facelift. A new facade will surround an expanded building, which will contain, among other things, a sports bar and additional banquet facilities. Miller said Foresight wants to tie the sports club in the local professional sports teams, using photographs and memorabilia.

With 54 holes and a large customer base on weekends, he said he's hoping to turn the food and beverage operation around by trying to entice golfers to stay and watch sporting events.

"Houston is a great sports town with the Rockets, Astros and now the Texans … although they're not having a very good year," Miller said.

Indeed, the honeymoon is over with the fourth-year Texans, but Miller insists that "they'll be good eventually, just like the rest of the Houston teams."

Patrons also can look for the Cypresswood School of Golf to get a new building with an indoor teaching bay or two located near the main drive, according to Cypresswood General Manager Doug Borow. The school, currently run by two-time Southern Texas PGA Teacher of the Year Kevin Kirk, is conducted on the range of The Tradition.

The Cypress Course, which has hosted many qualifying events for the Shell Houston Open as well as Tour School, could get new grass on its greens either next summer. Foresight could opt to redo the Creek Course first. In any event, one will likely be renovated next summer and the other in 2007, said Miller. The choice of grass - most likely Champion, Tif Eagle, Tif Dwarf or Mini Verde - will be made then.

In addition, both courses, which currently have 20-year-old Tif Dwarf greens, will receive a new set of forward tees for four sets overall on both layouts. Miller said the current forward markers, the red tees, which measure slightly less than 5,600 yards, would be reclassified into a silver or white for seniors and high-handicappers.

The new set would be somewhere around 4,800 to 4,900 yards for many women players and juniors. The Cypress Course is currently 6,906 from the tips; the Creek is 6,937 yards. Both are par 72s.

"I think it just makes for a much more enjoyable round of golf for many players," said Miller of the tee additions.

December 6, 2005